RAPID Collaborative Proposal: Spatially-explicit, High-resolution Mapping and Modeling to Quantify Hypoxia and Oil Effects on the Living Resources of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

2010年4月22日，钻井平台深水地平线在墨西哥湾北部沉入近1200米深的水中。自这一日期以来，从现场释放了各种估计的石油和添加的化学分散剂，并在表面和深度进行了扩散。这些油和分散剂的运输受到了大陆架上的风力驱动的洋流以及近海的环流及其衍生产品的影响。到目前为止，地平线漏油的确切移动数量和路径仍然是推测的。自2003年以来，在NOAA-CSCOR的资助下，这组调查人员在墨西哥湾北部进行了5次夏季巡航，使用高分辨率采样来确定浮游动物的物理结构与鱼类分布之间的空间明确关系。因此，该小组拥有墨西哥湾北部漏油前温度、盐度、氧气、浮游植物、浮游动物和鱼类的最全面的天气数据集之一。目前的快速奖励将使该小组能够重复他们对墨西哥湾北部的水文、氧气、浮游生物和鱼类的高分辨率制图。感兴趣的领域将包括之前在密西西比河三角洲以西缺氧区的调查区域，但也包括密西西比河以东的地区，在那里有更多的石油被认为是从漏油中运输出来的。巡航将在夏末期间进行，因为调查人员有5年的基线？本赛季的数据来比较结果。衡量物种多样性和丰度、生物量大小范围、鱼类饲料、鱼类生长速度潜力和生态系统模型都将对评估石油泄漏对墨西哥湾北部生物资源可能产生的影响极为有用。除了在大陆架内层到中层进行快速测绘外，该小组还将派遣ORV Ocean上的科学家进行高分辨率垂直浮游动物测量(LOPC和TAP)和MOCNESS浮游动物拖曳在更深的站点和更广泛的测绘调查，以扩大我们对受影响地区的空间覆盖。他们将与其他研究人员协调我们的浮游动物和鱼类测量，以评估英国石油公司漏油事件的生物地球化学和生物影响。以前NOAA的数据将存储在BCODMO的数据管理设施中，以及当前的测量和模型产品。鉴于墨西哥湾商业渔业(约占美国总上岸量的20%，价值约9.91亿美元)和休闲渔业(创造全国约30%的收入？S海水捕捞支出，支持全国近25%的休闲海水工作)的经济重要性，有必要对英国石油公司漏油事件对远洋生态系统的影响进行评估。霍恩角实验室和俄勒冈州立大学是国家科学基金会的一部分？海洋科学教育卓越中心(NSF-COSEE)和本科生体验项目(REU)。在可能的情况下，在国家科学基金会的快速反应拨款中，我们将让REU的本科生和教师参与我们提议的研究计划。

On April 22, 2010, the drill platform Deepwater Horizon sank in nearly 1,200 m of water in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Since this date various estimates of oil and added chemical dispersants have been released from the site with dispersion both at the surface and at depth. The transport of this oil and dispersants has been influenced by wind-driven currents over the shelf and by the Loop Current and its derivatives offshore. To date the exact amount and paths of movement of the Horizon spill remain speculative. Since 2003, with NOAA-CSCOR funding, this group of investigators has conducted 5 summer cruises in the northern Gulf of Mexico that used high-resolution sampling to define the spatially explicit relationships between physical structure to pelagic zooplankton and fish distributions. Thus this group has one of the most comprehensive, synoptic data sets on temperature, salinity, oxygen, phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish in the northern Gulf of Mexico for conditions prior to the oil leak.The current RAPID award will allow this group to repeat their high-resolution mapping of hydrography, oxygen, plankton and fish in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The domain of interest will include the previous survey region in the hypoxic zone west of the Mississippi Delta but also the area east of the Mississippi where more oil transport from the spill has been suggested. The cruise will take place in the late summer period because the investigators have 5 years of ?baseline? data during this season to compare the results. The measures of species diversity and abundance, biomass size spectrum, fish diets, fish growth rate potential and ecosystem models will all be extremely useful to assess the possible effects of the oil spill on the living resources of the northern Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the rapid mapping cruise on the inner to mid-shelf, this group also will send scientists on the ORV Oceanus to conduct high resolution vertical zooplankton measurements (LOPC and TAPS) and MOCNESS zooplankton tows at deeper stations and broader mapping surveys to extend our spatial coverage of the affected area. They will coordinate our zooplankton and fish measurements with other investigators assessing the biogeochemical and biological impacts of the BP oil spill. Data from previous NOAA will be deposited in the BCODMO data management facility as well as current measurements and model products.Broader Impacts. Given the economic importance of the Gulf of Mexico commercial fisheries (about 20% of the U.S. total landings representing about $991 million) and recreational fishing (generating ~30% of the nation?s saltwater fishing expenditures and supporting nearly 25% of the nation?s recreational saltwater jobs), it is imperative that knowledge of the effects of the BP oil spill on the pelagic ecosystem be assessed. The Horn Point Laboratory and Oregon State University are part of the National Science Foundation ? Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (NSF-COSEE) and Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs. Where possible in this NSF RAPID response grant, we will involve REU undergraduate students and teachers in our proposed research program.